Ride height

[mt308]

Following on from a thread I started a while back where I thought I had grounding issues. The noise I could here over bumps is actully the rear wheels touching the side pod over bumps. It has started to wear through the gel coat and also probably not great for the tyres - once I sort this issue out I can repair the gel coat easily enough...

Can I check how you measure ride height and what most owners have it set for the road.

Factory suggest 170mm at rear - is this from the ground to the lower edge of the rear chassis rail? If so I have just measured mine at it is 155mm on that measurement. If I am out by 15mm this will almost certainly cure the issue. Seems odd that the ride height has been set up twice now and it keeps dropping (if the above measurements are correct). Might as well check the front whilst at it if anyone has that measurement too?

Would quite like to fix over the weekend if possible as have some time on my hands.

Cheers

Mark

[macgtech]

Might be worth measuring the springs in case they are sagging over time. Unlikely but worth checking.

[Steve_D]

Factory settings from the 2010 manual.
Front ride height should be 110mm and rear height should be 160mm measured at the centre lines of the wheels.

Steve

[mt308]

Steve_D said:

Factory settings from the 2010 manual.
Front ride height should be 110mm and rear height should be 160mm measured at the centre lines of the wheels.

Steve

Thanks

Where is the 160mm measurement taken (and the 110mm too). Not sure what is meant by from the centre lines of the wheels? (I did check the build cd and saw that too). As I got the factory to set mine up I haven't played around with it at all.

[Steve_D]

mt308 said:

Steve_D said:

Factory settings from the 2010 manual.
Front ride height should be 110mm and rear height should be 160mm measured at the centre lines of the wheels.

Steve

Thanks

Where is the 160mm measurement taken (and the 110mm too). Not sure what is meant by from the centre lines of the wheels? (I did check the build cd and saw that too). As I got the factory to set mine up I haven't played around with it at all.

The measurement is from the bottom of the chassis rail each side of the car. Imagine a line across the car between the bottom of the wheels. This is where you take the measurements.

Steve

[mt308]

Steve_D said:

mt308 said:

Steve_D said:

Factory settings from the 2010 manual.
Front ride height should be 110mm and rear height should be 160mm measured at the centre lines of the wheels.

Steve

Thanks

Where is the 160mm measurement taken (and the 110mm too). Not sure what is meant by from the centre lines of the wheels? (I did check the build cd and saw that too). As I got the factory to set mine up I haven't played around with it at all.

The measurement is from the bottom of the chassis rail each side of the car. Imagine a line across the car between the bottom of the wheels. This is where you take the measurements.

Steve

Thanks that makes sense. I have 155mm at the moment at the back and have some pretty severe rubbing on the inside edge of the side pod. 5mm isn't a huge difference, but maybe it will be enough to stop it. Very nervy driving over bumpy roads (i.e. most UK roads) right now.

[MarkWebb]

Forgive me if I am talking rubbish but my tyres only touch the side pod when car is jacked up in the air in order to change a tyre. Something does not sound right here?????

[mt308]

MarkWebb said:

Forgive me if I am talking rubbish but my tyres only touch the side pod when car is jacked up in the air in order to change a tyre. Something does not sound right here?????

When car is stationary, tyres are well clear of the pods. When I hit a large bump in the road and the suspension compresses, the tyre is rubbing just below the edge of the side pod where the clam comes down. It has made quite a deep cut into the gel coat and when you hit a very big bump you hear a nasty noise from the rear.

[5paulmv]

At risk off sounding daft have you got the springs mixed up the thicker ones at the rear also dampers may be mixed up only asking as I've just re powder coated mine and noticed there paired up

[mt308]

5paulmv said:

At risk off sounding daft have you got the springs mixed up the thicker ones at the rear also dampers may be mixed up only asking as I've just re powder coated mine and noticed there paired up

No I did check that a while ago, definitely he right way round.

[Storer]

Start by getting the ride height correct. Can I be rude and ask if the weight of the car increases greatly when the occupants get in? If so (mine does when I get in) you may need to increase the measurements by 5 to 10mm.

The next thing to check are your damper settings. Bump (black knob) set at 6 clicks (there are 13 clicks in total) and rebound (red) at 9 clicks. You can fine tune later to taste.

Try these two items and report back but I suspect your problem will be solved.


Paul

[macgtech]

Storer said:

Start by getting the ride height correct. Can I be rude and ask if the weight of the car increases greatly when the occupants get in? If so (mine does when I get in) you may need to increase the measurements by 5 to 10mm.

The next thing to check are your damper settings. Bump (black knob) set at 6 clicks (there are 13 clicks in total) and rebound (red) at 9 clicks. You can fine tune later to taste.

Try these two items and report back but I suspect your problem will be solved.


Paul

Its worth ballasting the car with the drivers weight and half a tank of fuel prior to setting up the ride height and the toe etc - it can make a big difference.

[mt308]

macgtech said:

Storer said:

Start by getting the ride height correct. Can I be rude and ask if the weight of the car increases greatly when the occupants get in? If so (mine does when I get in) you may need to increase the measurements by 5 to 10mm.

The next thing to check are your damper settings. Bump (black knob) set at 6 clicks (there are 13 clicks in total) and rebound (red) at 9 clicks. You can fine tune later to taste.

Try these two items and report back but I suspect your problem will be solved.


Paul

Its worth ballasting the car with the drivers weight and half a tank of fuel prior to setting up the ride height and the toe etc - it can make a big difference.

Interesting point. Rather an obvious one but not one I'd thought about! Car is now actually full to the brim with fuel, when factory set it up I think it was almost empty, so that could be 50kgs difference.

So with that in mind are we saying that 155mm from lower chassis rail to floor with no passengers in here is actually way too low?

So the factory 160mm is set with car at normal loaded weight? I am only about 68kgs and most of the time I have my 7 year old son as passenger - but still its going to all make a difference.

Edited by mt308 on Sunday 1st December 13:12

[LuckyP]

Hi guys, just scan read, so apologies if I'm off the mark, but are your side pods correctly located? Wheels should be able to move up and down in the arch on normal activity (yeah we all know that when jacking the rear the tyres can drop onto the lower edge of the side pod), without fouling. Are you 100% the side pod is a) not too rearward or b) not too inward?

Pete

[mt308]

LuckyP said:

Hi guys, just scan read, so apologies if I'm off the mark, but are your side pods correctly located? Wheels should be able to move up and down in the arch on normal activity (yeah we all know that when jacking the rear the tyres can drop onto the lower edge of the side pod), without fouling. Are you 100% the side pod is a) not too rearward or b) not too inward?

Pete

Hi Pete

Don't think that's the problem. Pre-fit done by the factory and fits nicely with the clam etc. I think this is a ride height issue, keen to get it sorted before I have a tyre cutting sharp hole in my bodywork though....the hole is easy to fix, a ripped rear tyre is expensive!

Mark

[LuckyP]

mt308 said:

LuckyP said:

Hi guys, just scan read, so apologies if I'm off the mark, but are your side pods correctly located? Wheels should be able to move up and down in the arch on normal activity (yeah we all know that when jacking the rear the tyres can drop onto the lower edge of the side pod), without fouling. Are you 100% the side pod is a) not too rearward or b) not too inward?

Pete

Hi Pete

Don't think that's the problem. Pre-fit done by the factory and fits nicely with the clam etc. I think this is a ride height issue, keen to get it sorted before I have a tyre cutting sharp hole in my bodywork though....the hole is easy to fix, a ripped rear tyre is expensive!

Mark

Absolutely Mark! Just checking

[mt308]

Have raised her by 12mm at the rear. Was 148mm rather than 160mm, and that is with no occupants - but full tanks. Now reset to 160mm which was 3 full turns on each side. Will keep checking it.

Strange that it has now seemingly dropped twice. Hopefully this will sort the issue and not happen again, then I can repair the inner wheel arch scrape.

Off topic - I tested a BMW M135i today for the family. Funny how 320hp feels boring when you are starting to come to terms with 700!